His trowel moved rhythmically as it coasted down a vacant grey wall, only stopping while he checked his work to ensure that the white patches of joint compound he applied around the edges of the drywall were clean and smooth.

The mission wasn’t paying him. He was paying it back.

Five months ago, the Market Street Mission, which has come to the aid of men crippled by drug and alcohol addiction for more than a century, took Bruce in and helped him piece back together his life, which had been fractured by heroin and cocaine.

Now, two months after flooding caused by Hurricane Irene completely destroyed the Market Street Mission, he’s helping prop up the group that offered its hand in his time of need.

"I was on the verge of losing everything," said the father of three and former construction business owner. "This mission helped save that for me. This is what it’s all about, giving back and helping others."

Steve Hockstein/For the Star-Ledger Stephen Bienko, president of College Hunks Hauling Junk, spearheaded the massive volunteer effort to restore the flood ravaged Market Street Mission Transition Home in Morristown this afternoon.

Bruce was one of dozens of volunteers working to rebuild the mission today. He worked alongside members of Liquid Church, which has a ministry in Morristown, Habitat for Humanity and College Hunks Hauling Junk as they transformed the transitional living facility from a hollowed out structure into the home it once was. The building has been a place where graduates of the mission’s program can live as they get back on their feet.

"I can’t tell you how encouraging this is," said David Scott, Sr., the mission’s executive director. "(Two months ago) there was a refrigerator floating around the kitchen."

In the weeks after Irene struck, College Hunks Hauling Junk owner Stephen Bienko spent days hauling flood-damaged furniture and debris following the storm the storm. He wanted to help someone rebuild, so he contacted Habitat for Humanity and Liquid Church, who recommended helping the mission.

"It came out of knowing that we can not assume the government will always be there to help us," Bienko said. "It’s a drive to show people this is how we can get things done."

For Morristown resident Andrew Sichko IV, who graduated from the mission’s program in 2008 after battling a 17-year addiction to heroin, today was about saving the mission that helped save his life.

"When I came here, I felt like there was no hope and I found hope," he said. "I don’t even have to sign up for things like this, they know I’ll be here."
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